Natural Investments LLC Makes New Investment in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Natural Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,739 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in PayPal by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,762,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,307,945,000 after acquiring an additional 7,767,072 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 12,919.4% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,500,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $819,315,000 after purchasing an additional 10,419,351 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PayPal by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,615,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $564,631,000 after purchasing an additional 84,337 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of PayPal by 21.6% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,015,816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $469,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $387,435,000. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Stock Up 0.9 %

PayPal stock opened at $68.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.97 and a 1-year high of $93.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.00. The company has a market cap of $67.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.52.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. PayPal had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 13.04%. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. PayPal’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on PayPal from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America upgraded PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of PayPal in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, Director Gail J. Mcgovern sold 2,446 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $176,478.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,145,308.10. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a technology platform that enables digital payments on behalf of merchants and consumers worldwide. It operates a two-sided network at scale that connects merchants and consumers that enables its customers to connect, transact, and send and receive payments through online and in person, as well as transfer and withdraw funds using various funding sources, such as bank accounts, PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products comprising its installment products, credit and debit cards, and cryptocurrencies, as well as other stored value products, including gift cards and eligible rewards.